Nintendo: Faster Processors and Pretty Graphics Will Not Be Enough to Compete with Wii U.

The president of Nintendo of America claims that when both Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. release their next-generation game console sometime next year, high-quality graphics and precise physics will not be enough to compete against Wii U as the latter not only improves visual quality of games, but provides completely new user experience.

"In the end, our competitors need to react to what we are doing in the marketplace and need to figure out what their innovation will be. It is likely that faster processors and pretty pictures will not be enough to motivate consumers. They need to react to what we have done and we need to continue innovating with the Wii U and we will,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, in an interview with Cnet News web-site.

All new game consoles usually feature improved graphics, ergonomics, video games, etc. Nintendo believes that this is just not enough to justify a brand new platform. The main feature of the game console is its unique Wii U GamePad controller with 6.2" touch-screen that also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers that can be used to play both classic Gamecube/Wii games as well as specially designed titles that take advantage of the screen.

“For us, launching new systems is about bringing new consumer experiences to the marketplace and we're doing that with Nintendo land and third-party publishers are doing it with games like ZombiU. For us, now is the right time to launch new hardware,” said Mr. Fils-Aime.

First week sales of Nintendo Wii U were 400 thousand, 200 thousand lower than the first week sales of Nintendo Wii back in 2006. In fact, Nintendo’s latest console was behind sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 last week. The manufacturer cited production limitations for slow shipments of Wii U, which may actually be true as online retailer Amazon has no Wii Us in stock.

The head of Nintendo’s American subsidiary believes that Wii U generally has bright future as this is a living, breathing product that will continue to be improved over the coming years.

Discussion

Sounds like some wishful thinking right there. I withhold judgement on the WiiU as a whole for the time being, but I don't think there is sufficient evidence of the UX innovation on the WiiU. UX is not just about stuffing new stuff into hardware and hoping users catch on - it's about genuinely seeing if there IS any changes in the way users interact with the hardware. To claim that competitors need to react to the WiiU at this time sounds a bit premature.

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WiiU can run the kind of games PS3 and Xbox360 have NOW...

PS4 and Xbox720 will be running the games WiiU is not capable of running its the whole wii vs ps3/xbox360 all over again where game developers are not able to port over games because the technology is soooo far behind..

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Ya that's a good point. Although to us PC gamers this is irrelevant. I play all cross-platform titles on the PC and there is no chance that PS4/Xbox 720 will have better graphics than the PC for those titles. For PC gamers, which console to own comes down to the quality of 1st party titles and that's where Sony and Nintendo destroy MS's console. I would imagine a lot of people will buy Wii U once the next Zelda, Yoshi, Starfox, F-Zero, Mario, Metroid games come out, etc.

Also, while PS3 was more powerful, any company can take an expensive device and sell it at a loss for 3-4 consecutive years. You realize if you aggregate all the cash flows from PS3 from 2006, the console lost $$$ overall? Sony's market cap went from $120B to less than $10B:

Sony's credit rating has also been downgraded to Junk Status. While PS3 destroyed the Wii in graphics, 3rd party games, online gaming, etc. Sony is slowly going the way of Sega with their misguided loss-leader strategies. Nintendo is profitable after just 1 game sale. That's how you stay in business for 100+ years. I am not counting on PS4 to be a powerhouse based on A10 APU rumors. The only company among these 3 that can afford to sell a $500 console at a loss is MS but they are focusing on Kinect crap.

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Seeing how well the Wii did and the fact Sony and Microsoft have tried to jump on the "motion control" bandwagon I really wouldn't be surprised if they come up with new controllers/experiences.

Then again, their motion controls haven't been as successful as Nintendo's so that might have deterred them from trying it again (or maybe deterred them from using motion controls as the main controller).